For the glory of giants
If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants should explain the title. Everyone I’ve learned from counts. I don’t even know their names because there are so many of them. But they shall be remembered 🙏 .
I should have written this a couple of years ago, during my undergraduate studies. Because it was then I felt this.
There are times where you’ll dream of writing those complex applications while you are practicing programs – for example a program to add to two integers 😅 . But it will definitely take some time to realise that it’ll take good amount of knowledge of underlying systems to work on complex applications.
There was a feeling of discomfort for me while learning C after practicing Python. Because Python seemed far easier than C with lot of built-in constructs. But that discomfort made me question those high-level constructs. That questioning helped me understanding the motivation and design behind those high-level constructs.
As I was exploring C, I had an opportunity to understand many concepts that make up software systems as we see them today. The C Programming Language book by Dennis M. Ritchie and Brian Kernighan helped me so much. It explains C language in conjunction with the UNIX concepts. That book is concise, precise and always tops my favorite books list. In fact every book by Brian Kernighan is worth reading.
C language also played an important role in development of the UNIX operating system. We all know that the Unix philosophy is a good guide for software development.
UNIX pipe contributed by Douglas McIlroy is still favorite of many people out there.
- Unix Pipeline (Brian Kernighan) - Computerphile. In this video Brian Kernighan explains the motivation behind the UNIX pipe.
Documentaries about UNIX:
- UNIX: Making Computers Easier To Use – AT&T Archives film from 1982, Bell Laboratories.
- AT&T Archives: The UNIX Operating System
Soon after I’ve learned the still living impact of C language and the UNIX philosophy, I had to do this drawing and stick in my class room.
About C language:
- “C” Programming Language: Brian Kernighan - Computerphile
- Why C is so Influential - Computerphile
- The Development of the C Language
Unix Tutorials:
Dennis M. Ritchie:
- Dennis M. Ritchie
- Dennis Ritchie’s video interview June 2011 by DennisRitchie.in (This is the only video interview of Dennis M. Ritchie I could find)
About bell labs:
- The Factory of Ideas: Working at Bell Labs - Computerphile (In this video Brain Kernighan shares his experience of working with Bell Labs. )
To be continued …